Senator Donna Scott-Mottley has called on the government to lend greater support to the development of cultural industries in Jamaica.
“It is the international recognition of the role of creative industries in the future economic prosperity of developing countries, as well as Jamaica’s strong cultural industries, that demand that we stop paying lip service to this area,” Senator Scott-Mottley remarked, during her contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Upper House on March 17.
She lamented that the area continued to reflect high levels of under investment “yet it has so much potential for poverty reduction, youth empowerment and employment, crime reduction and wealth creation.” Calling for private sector investment in culture, she noted that cultural industries were very lucrative and “was a multi-billion business in the United States alone”.
She proposed that local investors “should begin to look at how they can break with their traditional requirements and become creative in their banking thrust and enter into joint venture agreements with musicians to earn money”.
“Sugar days are done, banana days are done but in this globalised world, our culture is what sells us and we have to begin to look at it as a business,” Mrs. Scott Mottley said.